uke

But it's a lot more fun to fuss about other people than to fix yourself.

Manetheren

I had a coworker draft me once. Unfortunately, she didn't realize that I actually stop at stop signs. It was good for a mutual laugh.

SPlKE 

^ What Fred said +1

ken cummings

It is nice when this topic comes up. I occasionally give my favorite memory on the topic. Years back I was doing a 20 mile out and back on the Santa Ana River Trail trying to stay just below my aerobic limit. A tall African/American (did I get that PC?) male went by me just enough faster that I was willing to red-line it to try to catch his wheel. When I got there I asked if I could draft him as I was fried trying to catch him "OK." Five mile later he pulled aside and said "Your turn." I pushed as hard as I could for the next five miles to my turnaround point. I pulled aside and said "I turn back here and thanks for riding with me I'm Ken Cummings". "Good pull" and "Nelson Vails" was the reply.

Allister

I don't mind 'em as long as they take their turn pulling.

SPlKE 

PS, on the other side of the draft: I would never draft on a stranger unless I planned on riding with the other person for at least a few miles (i.e. I had followed and passed enough times to realize that he and I are about the same kind of rider), asked if it is OK to draft, and also I planned on pulling on a regular basis.


.

magiccx

2 winters ago, after some nasty weather, I was riding along a local trail. It was closed off and on due to fallen trees and other damage from the recent weather. I was on my CycloCross bike and was finding it fun to hop branches, to quick dismounts for larger objects and so on. Little did I know at some point a random was sucking my wheel. I hopped over a decent sized branch on the trail and he tagged that tree so hard he went flying. I stop and he yells at me for not calling it out... After a few seconds of this I just left, his front end looked messed up too. If he'd been nicer I'd likely felt bad and would have helpped him.

mondaycurse

What's the time?
Hammertime!

CB HI

Apparently, that is not true for some people!

CB HI

If the road is wet and slippery, then both riders might go down on a touch of wheels. The rest of the time, the drafter is the only one going down.

So it is better to have someone drafting you, that you do not know, than it is for you to draft someone you do not know.

So if someone does a good job drafting you for a good distance, so hello and have them do a pull for awhile.
Win, win.

zeytoun

Not quite. The "PC Police" might wonder what the guy's skin color had to do with story.

(what color was his bike?)

(I'm just giving you a hard time, Caucasian/American )

Basil Moss

I've had this happen before- I was going hard, head down into a headwind, and passed an old boy on a Dawes Galaxy. I thought I'd left him way behind, and it started raining, so I thought I'd practice putting on my waterproof on the bike. Not so easy as taking it off, so after a few tries I put my hands back on the bars and braked to stop and do it the easy way. Tenacious old sod has been holding my wheel for the past 10 mins! Nearly hit the back of me! I mean, I back off when I'm behind an experienced rider putting on a raimproof, let alone a complete stranger!

I don't really mind it, but people should make you are they are there, I think that's where the problem lies really. If you know you've got someone on your wheel you ride differently- signal potholes, brake more steadily etc. If you know they are there it's nice to have company. I always ask, but these days I rarely find riders fast enough who I don't know and ride with a lot anyway.

There as a time I rode home (Cambridge) from Manchester in a day (getting on 200 miles) on my tourer with a pair of panniers with my camping kit on. it took me two days to get there, the wind as more favourable on the way back. Anyway, as I was riding along a road I saw in the distance a pair of brightly coloured cyclists out on their Sunday ride. I got tucked in the drops and chased for all I was worth, passed through two villages before I caught them, on their racing bikes. I said hello and tried to converse but was so puffed they told me to draft and catch my breath. I think that is how you should initiate the drafting of strangers. They gave me some company on a long, tiring day.

bakerjw

Being a new rider, I rarely catch up with someone to draft. Being a new rider also means that I spend a lot of solo miles on the road. I don't mind riding solo but it presents a lot more opportunities for redneck drive bys and potential gotchas. So if someone comes along and wants to draft or ride along, I gladly accept the company. Sure it is nice if they ask, but it is not mandatory and I am not enough of an elitist to be a prick to them.

xerocoma

As long as they're willing to do their share of pulling and can maintain their line I don't get too worried....

San Rensho 

Its almost impossible for someone who is on your wheel to make YOU crash. If he touches your wheel, he will crash almost instantly but in most cases, you won't even notice that he has touched your wheel. He would have to slam your rear wheel really hard to get you to go down.

So don't worry so much about it. If he crashes while he is drafting, its his fault, not yours. Don't dance on his grave if he crashes, but don't shed any tears either.

SamDaBikinMan

Yea I suppose it would be very unlikely that the lead rider would be thrown down.

baiskeli

Yeah, I can attest to this. Drafting (on a group ride) I pulled a bone-headed move and touched my front wheel to a riders rear wheel. He barely noticed anything amiss (apart from my yelp, thud and the sound of metal on asphalt as I went down hard separating my shoulder and spraining my wrist, then he noticed it).

I think that there must be an unconscious component to this, maybe being afraid that the cyclist behind you who latched on without permission will cause you some kind of injury is far fetched, it might be more about personal space. I almost think drafting unannounced and uninvited is the equivalent of someone invading ones personal space.

SPlKE 

The only thing I'm afraid of with a stranger on my wheel is that I'll have to brake hard for a squirrel on the MUP and get rear ended.

I hit a squirrel once and have had numerous close calls.

With a rider on my wheel, it would have been a lot worse.

.

Da Tinker

You may be on to something there. And it may be that we do care for our fellow riders. I ride differently with someone on my wheel, trying to pick a wider line, pointing out or avoiding hazards with more clearance.

And no sudden handling & braking drills.

San Rensho 

Didn't Frank Sinatra write a song about this?

Strangers on my wheel, exchanging glances
Wondring on the ride
What were the chances wed be crashing hard
Before the ride was through.

John E

I have two big issues with tailgating cyclists. First, as others have noted above, those of us who actually stop for stop signs and for red lights across the arms of T intersections are just asking to be rear-ended, perhaps hard. Second, I eschew close drafting because one of my friends died as a result of so doing. A physicist by training, he always tried to position himself optimally in the wind shadow of the rider ahead. We are all influenced by personal experience ...